Honshu

Honshū
Native name: 本州
	A May 2003 satellite image of Honshu
Geography
Location	Sea of Japan (North and West); Pacific Ocean (South and East);
Coordinates	36°N 138°E / 36°N 138°E
Archipelago	Japanese archipelago
Area	227,960 km2 (88,020 sq mi)
Area rank	7th
Length	1,300 km (810 mi)
Width	50–230 km (31–143 mi)
Coastline	10,084 km (6265.9 mi)
Highest elevation	3,776 m (12388 ft)
Highest point	Mount Fuji
Administration
	Japan
Prefectures	List of prefectures Aichi Prefecture ; Akita Prefecture ; Aomori Prefecture ; Chiba Prefecture ; Fukui Prefecture ; Fukushima Prefecture ; Gifu Prefecture ; Gunma Prefecture ; Hiroshima Prefecture ; Hyōgo Prefecture ; Ibaraki Prefecture ; Ishikawa Prefecture ; Iwate Prefecture ; Kanagawa Prefecture ; Kyoto Prefecture ; Mie Prefecture ; Miyagi Prefecture ; Nagano Prefecture ; Nara Prefecture ; Niigata Prefecture ; Okayama Prefecture ; Osaka Prefecture ; Saitama Prefecture ; Shiga Prefecture ; Shimane Prefecture ; Shizuoka Prefecture ; Tochigi Prefecture ; Tokyo ; Tottori Prefecture ; Toyama Prefecture ; Wakayama Prefecture ; Yamagata Prefecture ; Yamaguchi Prefecture ; Yamanashi Prefecture ;
Largest settlement	Tokyo (pop. 14,043,239) (pop. 14,043,239)
Demographics
Population	104,000,000 (2017)
Pop. density	447/km2 (1158/sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Japanese
Additional information
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9);

Honshu (Japanese: 本州, Hepburn: Honshū, pronounced [hoꜜɰ̃.ɕɯː] ^ⓘ; lit. 'main island'), historically known as Akitsushima (秋津島, lit. 'dragonfly island'), is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian island of Java.

Honshu had a population of 104 million as of 2017, constituting 81.3% of the entire population of Japan, and mostly concentrated in the coastal areas and plains. Approximately 30% of the total population resides in the Greater Tokyo Area on the Kantō Plain. As the historical center of Japanese cultural and political power, the island includes several past Japanese capitals, including Kyōto, Nara, and Kamakura. Much of the island's southern shore forms part of the Taiheiyō Belt, a megalopolis that spans several of the Japanese islands. Honshu also contains Japan's highest mountain, Mount Fuji, and its largest lake, Lake Biwa.

Most of Japan's industry is located in a belt running along Honshu's southern coast, from Tokyo to Nagoya, Kyōto, Osaka, Kobe, and Hiroshima. The island is linked to the other three major Japanese islands by a number of bridges and tunnels. The island primarily shares two climates, with Northern Honshu having four seasons with largely varying temperatures while the south experiences long, hot summers and cool to mild winters.